Chapter 19 - The Little State
From Italy I retumed to Paris by air, and from there went on to the tiny Duchy of Luxembourg.
The history of Luxembourg reaches far back into the past, and we know that 2,000 years before Christ, this little country was inhabited by a people who have left their mark behind them in the shape of carved stones and implements of bronze and iron. Fifty years after Christ the Normans came here and imposed their culture on the people, and then in 500 A.D. the Franks came and founded a new race of people—strong, vigorous and industrious.
Tucked away as it is with France to the South, Germany to the East, and Belgium forming its other boundaries, Luxembourg has retained its great quality of independence, its vigour and determination throughout the years—even during its last most painful ' Occupation.' Its Guiding, too, is vigorous and determined, and it holds the proud position of being the littlest full member of the World Association. It was grand to meet the Guides there, and to hear at first hand of their bravery throughout the Occupation, of their confidence in final victory, and of how they had continued their Guiding in spite of everything. The Grand Duchess has given the Movement her patronage, her three daughters came to the big Rally at the Chief Guide's house, the
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Burgomaster gave an official reception in honour of the Guides and of my visit, and a fine little Exhibition of Guide handicrafts was held in the Town Hall in the lovely old historic town of Luxembourg itself.
Mercifully, this unique town was not damaged at all, although it was saved from probable destruction only by a matter of hours, for in spite of the fact that the enemy swept back and forth across the Duchy, Allied protection arrived just in time. The blessedness of this struck us the more forcibly, as we toured the countryside through the tiny demolished villages seeing the most horrible destruction.
Perhaps the most deeply moving place that I visited on this tour was Echtemach. This used to be a great tourist centre, not only because of its beautiful scenery but because of its haute spiritualite, holiness, that has emanated from it as a religious centre. ,As early as 698 there was a little community of women there, with St. Willibrod as their Abbess. She died there, and in 800 A.D. the big building acting as a convent was destroyed by -fire. Charlemagne took the place under his protection in 771, and between 1016 and 1031 another convent or monastery was built. There are records of further re-building in 1200 and 1727, by which time a Benedictine Order was established there, and now the famous old Abbey lies in ruins as the result of Von Runstedt's putsch in December, 1944.
Each year the famous 'Procession Dansante ' takes place on Whit Tuesday, ten times as many pilgrims coming in for it as live in the little town itself. It is a religious festival and was originally dedicated to the curing of St. Vitus' dance, but now has become just a great annual gathering. The dance starts on the German side of the River Sure. The people, preceded by choirs and church dignitaries, hold handkerchiefs and jump forward three steps and then back two, and the dance goes on for nine hours, with music all the time, sometimes as many as 15,000 people taking part.
In this little town a newly-formed company of Guides and a troop of Scouts met me at the edge of the ruined street, and with flags flying marched me along through the battered shells of houses and shops. It was all just a jumbled mass, with hardly one whole house left standing. What people there were, those who had retumed home ' after the bombing and shelling, were living in cellars and caves under the skeleton-like walls and the remnants of houses, receiving communal meals from the bleak, battered halls of what was left of the monastery.
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It was here that I met an outstanding old Scout, who gave me perhaps the most striking tribute to Scouting that I have ever heard. I shall always think of him as ' Robert of Echternach ' —dark, lean and wom, his face vigorously alive and at the same time grave and haunted, for he had only just returned to his shattered homestead from Buchenwald, and all that implies. It was the spirit of Scouting, he said, that had helped him to stand his ordeal, that had supported him through his torture time, that had so upheld his courage that he could endure the years of privation and horror. It was Scouting, he said, that had given him une vie interieure—an inner life—which enabled him to rise above it all, and live.
Before we left Echtemach, we walked across the river and for a few moments stood on German soil gazing towards the beautiful ridge of wooded hills that mark the Siegfried Line. So much evil has come from that land beyond the line, but may we not yet have an opportunity of taking great good into it ?
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